Apparatus for inserting medical tube and surgical procedure kit for inserting medical tube, having same

ABSTRACT

A surgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube according to the present invention includes: an insertion pathway formation means configured to include a medical tube provided with a hollow tube main body, a tube member including a hollow conduit having the medical tube received therein and forming a pathway into which the medical tube is to be inserted, and a support member including a support rod which is inserted into the medical tube and has stiffness greater than that of the tube member; and a push means configured to be slidable within the conduit of the tube member and push the medical tube through the conduit of the tube member.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE TO ANY PRIORITY APPLICATIONS

Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic priority claimis identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed with the presentapplication are hereby incorporated by reference under 37 CFR 1.57.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus for inserting a medicaltube used to do a surgical procedure of inserting the medical tube usedfor a surgical operation into a body and fixing it, and a surgicalprocedure kit for inserting a medical tube having the same.

BACKGROUND ART

For connection or suture of a damaged muscle, blood vessel, nerve, andtissue or scars or surgical cutting portions, a medical thread has beenused for a long time. Further, the medical thread has also been used fora double eyelid operation, or a surgical procedure, or the like, forremoving laxity of tissues or skin, wrinkles, or the like caused due toaging, a reduction in skin elasticity, an external injury, an overdose,a necrosis, or the like. A lifting surgical procedure using the medicalthread which lifts a sagging skin and tissue of a face, a chin, a neck,an abdomen, a vagina, a chest, a hip, or the like and pulls and smoothescreases using a needle and a thread without using a knife need notexcessively cut a skin and may minimize a generation of scars and reducebleeding or swelling due to an operation, and therefore has beenspotlighted.

However, in the conventional lifting surgical procedure using a medicalthread, one insertion puncture hole is formed at a point of a body intowhich the medical thread is inserted to insert the medical thread intothe body and fix it, and at least one fastening puncture hole is formedat a point of the body where the medical thread is fixed, and then themedical thread is inserted through the insertion puncture hole, pushedfrom behind using rigidity of the medical thread to make a front end ofthe medical thread protrude through the fastening puncture hole and beexpelled out of the body, and thereafter the front end is tied to form aknot, and then again stitches around the knot or cover it with a portionof a skin cut from other body part.

However, such lifting surgical procedure in which passing the medicalthread through both of the puncture holes for inserting and expellingthe medical thread through the skin and fixing it has a problem in thata plurality of puncture holes need to be formed in the skin, it is noteasy to perform an operation of inserting the medical thread into thebody, it takes much time to do the lifting surgical procedure, and arisk of the surgical procedure may be increased because an anestheticlevel for a patient needs to be high.

Further, the medical thread itself has insufficient stiffness and aninsufficient force to maintain its own shape, and therefore has troublein moving forward while being inserted into the body.

The disclosure of this section is to provide background of theinvention. Applicant notes that this section may contain informationavailable before this application. However, by providing this section,Applicant does not admit that any information contained in this sectionconstitutes prior art.

SUMMARY

A basic object of the present invention is to solve the problem of theprior art as described above. More specifically, an object of thepresent invention is to simplify a surgical procedure of inserting amedical tube having its own stiffness into a biological tissue, do thesurgical procedure while making physical wounds of a body small ifpossible, reduce total time required to do an insertion operation of themedical tube, and insert the medical tube into a predetermined positionand firmly fix it.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a surgicalprocedure apparatus used for a lifting surgical procedure and aprocedure kit for the surgical procedure apparatus capable of lifting asagging skin and tissue of a body and removing wrinkles by inserting themedical tube into a biological tissue.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided an apparatus for inserting a medical tube including aninsertion pathway formation means, in which the insertion pathwayformation means includes: the medical tube provided with a hollow tubemain body; a tube member including a hollow conduit having the medicaltube received therein and forming a pathway into which the medical tubeis to be inserted; and a support member which includes a support rodinserted into the medical tube and having stiffness greater than that ofthe tube member.

An outer surface of one end of the tube member may be provided with aninclined insertion portion tapered.

An end of the inclined insertion portion may be provided with asecond-stage inclined portion tapered at an angle greater than that ofthe inclined insertion portion.

The inclined insertion portion may be further provided with at least onecutting line which is formed in parallel with an axis direction of thetube member to branch the one end of the tube member.

An outer surface of an end of the medical tube may be provided with amedical tube support to fix the medical tube within a biological tissue.

The medical tube support may be provided with a barb protruding to beinclined toward an end in an opposite direction to an insertiondirection of the medical tube.

The medical tube support may have a truncated cone shape having adiameter increasing from an end in an insertion direction of the medicaltube toward an end of an opposite side.

In the medical tube, an outer diameter of an end in an insertiondirection of the medical tube may be greater than an outer diameter ofan end of an opposite side.

The medical tube may be further provided with a barb protruding to beinclined toward an end in an insertion direction of the medical tube.

An inner diameter of the medical tube may be formed to be greater thanan outer diameter of the support rod of the support member and an outerdiameter of the medical tube may be formed to be smaller than an innerdiameter of the conduit of the tube member.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a surgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube,including: an insertion pathway formation means configured to include amedical tube provided with a hollow tube main body, a tube memberincluding a hollow conduit having the medical tube received therein andforming a pathway into which the medical tube is to be inserted, and asupport member which includes a support rod inserted into the medicaltube and having stiffness greater than that of the tube member; and apush means configured to be slidable within the conduit of the tubemember and push the medical tube through the conduit of the tube member.

The insertion pathway formation means may further include a piercingmeans forming a boring hole inserted which is to be inserted into abiological tissue.

The push means may include a push rod having a length enough to protrudeby penetrating through the insertion pathway formation means.

As described above, the apparatus for inserting a medical tube and thesurgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube having the sameaccording to the embodiments of the present invention may achieve thefollowing effects.

First, the support for fixing the medical tube to the biological tissueis formed in the medical tube, and as a result only single piercing forinserting one end of the medical tube into the biological tissue isformed in the biological tissue, thereby reducing the damage of thebiological tissue.

Second, the medical tube may be just inserted into single piercing tocomplete the surgical procedure for preventing the creases of the skin,thereby simplifying the surgical procedure.

Third, the end of the insertion pathway formation means for insertingthe medical tube into the boring hole may be tapered to facilitate theentry into the biological tissue while passing the medical tubetherethrough, thereby reducing the friction during the entry into thebiological tissue.

Fourth, the tube member of the insertion pathway formation means intowhich the medical tube is inserted may have flexibility and thus havetrouble in moving within the biological skin tissue, but the insertionpathway formation means moves forward within the biological tissue inthe state in which the support member having stiffness greater than thatof the tube member is inserted into the tube member, thereby easilyforming the desired insertion pathway.

Fifth, the inclined insertion portion in which the end of the insertionpathway formation means is tapered may be provided with the second-stageinclined portion again tapered at an angle greater than that to furtherreduce the entry frictional force of the insertion pathway formationmeans, thereby facilitating the surgical procedure.

Sixth, the end of the inclined tube insertion portion may be providedwith the cutting line to easily expel the medical tube through theinclined tube insertion portion in which the support for supporting themedical tube at a predetermined point within the tissue is formed.

Seventh, the separate push means for making the medical tube enter thebiological tissue may be provided to more effectively move the medicaltube within the body forward than pushing the medical tube into thebiological tissue with the operator's hand.

Eighth, the insertion surgical procedure of the medical tube may befacilitated to reduce the total time required to do the medical tubeinsertion surgical procedure.

Ninth, the medical tube may be inserted into the predetermined positionof the biological tissue to be firmly fixed.

Tenth, the medical tube for pulling the tissue may be inserted into thebody to lift the sagging skin and tissue of the body and remove thecreases.

Eleventh, as the medical tube has its own stiffness, it is easy to pushthe medical tube with the push means.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of a medical tube insertionpathway formation means of an apparatus for inserting a medical tubeaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the medical tube insertionpathway formation means of the apparatus for inserting a medical tubeaccording to the present invention.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are enlarged views of various examples of part A of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of part B of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the medical tube of FIG. 2 as a whole.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are enlarged views of various examples of part C of FIG.2.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a piercing means of a surgical procedurekit for inserting a medical tube having the apparatus for inserting amedical tube according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a push means of the surgical procedurekit for inserting a medical tube having the apparatus for inserting amedical tube according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram for describing a skin piercing step withthe use of the piercing means of the surgical procedure kit forinserting a medical tube having the apparatus for inserting a medicaltube according to the present invention.

FIGS. 10A to 10G are schematic diagrams for describing a step ofperforming a lifting surgical procedure with the use of the surgicalprocedure kit for inserting a medical tube having the apparatus forinserting a medical tube according to the present invention.

FIGS. 11A to 11C are side views of a medical tube according to anotherembodiment of the present invention, for use in a surgical procedure kitfor inserting a medical tube having an apparatus for inserting a medicaltube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. To facilitateunderstanding, certain portions of embodiments of the present inventionillustrated in the drawings may be enlarged. Therefore, a proportionbetween sizes of components is not necessarily limited to oneillustrated in the drawings of the present invention.

A surgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube according to anembodiment of the present invention includes an insertion pathwayformation means having the medical tube included therein and forming anentry pathway of the medical tube, and a push means which slides withinthe insertion pathway formation means to push the medical tube frombehind, and if necessary, also includes a piercing means for forming apiercing into a biological skin tissue into which the medical tube is tobe inserted.

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view of an insertion pathwayformation means 100 of an apparatus for inserting a medical tubeaccording to the present invention and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspectiveview of the insertion pathway formation means of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus for inserting a medical tubeaccording to an embodiment of the present invention includes aninsertion pathway formation means 100 configured to include a tubemember 120 which includes a hollow conduit 124 forming a pathway intowhich the medical tube is to be inserted, a medical tube 130 which isinserted into the tube member 120 and has a hollow tube main body 132and has a long pipe shape, and a support member 110 which includes asupport rod 114 inserted into the medical tube 130 and having stiffnessgreater than that of the tube member 120.

The tube member 120 of the insertion pathway formation means 100 movesforward within a biological skin tissue, and therefore is made of anelastic material having predetermined flexibility to prevent the tissuefrom being damaged. For example, the conduit 124 of the tube member 120may be made of a silicon material.

The medical tube 130 is made of a material which has a desired stiffnessand at the same time flexibility.

The medical tube 130 includes a support of the medical tube 130 formedon an outer surface of one end of the tube main body 132 which has ahollow formed therein and the long pipe shape. When the medical tube isinserted into a body, the support serves to anchor the medical tube at apredetermined position and support a tissue in a body.

The support member 110 of the insertion pathway formation member 100 isinserted into the medical tube 130 inserted into the tube member 120 tosolve a problem that the tube member 120 has flexibility and thereforehas trouble in moving forward within the biological skin tissue byproviding a required level of stiffness to the tube member 120.

Further, the support member 110 includes the support rod 114 longextending from a support fixture 116 which is formed longitudinally froma handle 112 of the support member gripped by an operator and a portionof the support rod 114 opposite to the handle 112 is formed with a tipportion 118 of the support rod.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a right direction indicates a advancing directionwithin a biological tissue, that is, a direction toward the inside of abody.

Meanwhile, the medical tube 130 can be slidably inserted into theconduit 124 of the tube member 120 while being supported thereby, andthen the support rod 114 of the support member 110 can be slidablyinserted into the tube main body 132 of the medical tube 130. Thesupport rod 114 of the support member 110 can be separated from themedical tube 130 in the conduit 124 of the tube member 120 by allowingthe operator to pull the handle 112 backward (left direction of thedrawing).

Inner diameters and outer diameters of the conduit 124 of the tubemember 120, the medical tube 130, and the support rod 114 of the supportmember 110 can be determined in consideration of a receivingrelationship among them. The medical tube 130 needs to be formed at asize enough to be slid within the conduit 124 of the tube member 120even in the state in which the supports formed on the outer surfacethereof protrude and the outer diameter of the support rod 114 of thesupport member 110 is formed to be smaller than the inner diameter ofthe tube main body 132 to be slid within the tube main body 132 of themedical tube 130.

The tube member 120 has a fastening portion 122 including a mountinghole 126 into which the support fixture 116 formed at the handle 112 ofthe support member 110 is inserted. A diameter of a hollow of themounting hole varies such that an inner surface of the mounting hole 126is tapered to form an inclined surface. Therefore, as illustrated inFIG. 1, the tip portion 118 of the support member 110 passes through amounting groove 126 of the tube member 120 in the state in which itpenetrates through the tube main body 132 of the medical tube 130 to bedisposed inside the conduit 124, and therefore the tip portion 118 isdisposed at a position where it does not penetrate through an inclinedinsertion portion 128 of the tube member 120.

The tip portion 118 of the support member 110 substantially extends upto the inclined insertion portion 128 of the tube member 120 in thestate in which the support member 110 penetrates through the medicaltube 130 and then is completely inserted into the tube member 120 alongwith the medical tube 130 to thereby support the inclined insertionportion 128.

FIGS. 3A to 3E are enlarged views of various examples of the inclinedinsertion portion 128 of the end of the tube member pointing in theadvancing direction when the tube member 120 penetrates through thebiological tissue.

Referring to FIGS. 3A to 3E, the inclined insertion portion 128 isformed to be tapered at one end of the conduit 124 of the tube member120 and the end of the inclined insertion portion 128 is provided with asecond-stage inclined portion 129 tapered to be inclined at an anglegreater than that of the inclined insertion portion 128.

A center of the second-stage inclined portion 129 is provided with ahollow outlet 127, through which the medical tube 130 is expelled. Aninner diameter D3 of the hollow outlet 127 has a size enough to allowthe medical tube 130 to pass therethrough, and the medical tube may beformed with an outer diameter equal to or greater than the innerdiameter D3, such that the medical tube 130 does not pass through theoutlet 127 in a loose state but passes through the outlet 127 whileelastically expanding the inner diameter D3.

In FIG. 3A, the inclined insertion portion 128 is not provided with acutting line at all so that the medical tube 130 passes through theoutlet 127 while elastically expanding the outlet 127. However, in FIG.3B, the inclined insertion portion 128 is provided with one cutting line125 parallel with a longitudinal direction. Therefore, when the medicaltube 130 exits through the outlet 127, the inclined insertion portion128 can be bent from the cutting line 125, and as a result the medicaltube assembly can be expelled easily through the outlet 127.

FIG. 3C illustrates an example in which two cutting lines 125 areformed, facing each other with respect to the outlet 127, FIG. 3Dillustrates an example in which three cutting lines 125 are formed at aninterval of 120° therebetween around the outlet 127, and FIG. 3Eillustrates an example in which four cutting lines 125 are formed at aninterval of 90° therebetween around the outlet 127.

FIG. 4 is a partial enlarged view of part B of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is anenlarged view of the medical tube of FIG. 2 as a whole. Referring toFIGS. 4 and 5, the outer surface of one end of the tube main body 132having a predetermined inner diameter D2 is provided with a support foranchoring the tube at a predetermined position in a body when themedical tube 130 is inserted into the body and the support may be afirst barb 134 a protruding to have single directivity on the outersurface of the tube main body 132.

The first barb 134 a is formed at an end portion pointing in aninsertion direction of the medical tube 130 and protrudes to be inclinedtoward an end portion pointing in an opposite direction to the insertiondirection.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5, the end in the oppositedirection to the insertion direction of the medical tube 130 is alsoformed with a second barb 134 b protruding to be inclined in an oppositedirection to the first barb 134 a. When the medical tube 130 is insertedinto the body, the second barb 134 b gives directivity to lift thetissue in one direction.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are enlarged views of two examples of part C of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the tip portion 118 of the support rod 114 of thesupport member 110 may have a side cross section of a partial shape ofan oval and referring to FIG. 6B, the tip portion 118 of the support rod114 of the support member 110 may have a side cross section having apartial shape of a circle. The support rod 114 is assembled in the statein which it penetrates through the tube main body 132 of the medicaltube 130 and then is inserted into the conduit 124 of the tube member120, and therefore the outer diameter of the support rod 114 is formedto be smaller than the inner diameter of the tube main body 132 of themedical tube 130.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a piercing means 200 which constitutes apart of a surgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube accordingto one aspect of the present invention. The piercing means 200 is ameans to allow an operator to form a start portion of the insertionpathway formation means 100 and to secure an approximate pathway withrespect to a progress pathway within a tissue in which the insertionpathway formation means 100 is to be advanced.

In the piercing means 200, an end of a long boring rod 212 is providedwith a sharp piercing portion 214 for forming the boring hole in theskin tissue and an end of the piercing rod 212 opposite to the piercingportion 214 is provided with a handle 210.

FIG. 8 illustrates a perspective view of a push means included in asurgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube according to oneaspect of the present invention. The surgical procedure kit forinserting a medical tube according to one aspect of the presentinvention includes a push means 300 for pushing the medical tube in amedical tube supply means 400 (FIG. 7A) coupled with the tube member 120after the support member 110 has been removed from the insertion pathwayformation means 100 of FIG. 1.

The push means 300 includes a handle 310 of the push means 300 grippedby the operator, a push rod 312 extending from the handle, and a pushportion 314 formed at an end of the push rod 312 to contact and push themedical tube.

The push rod 312 is formed to have a length enough to protrude bypenetrating through the medical tube supply means 400 and the insertionpathway formation means 100.

FIG. 9 exemplarily illustrates an insertion position P1 of the medicaltube and a fixed position P2 of the medical tube in a human face, in theapparatus for inserting a medical tube according to the presentinvention. That is, a piercing is formed by pricking with the use of thepiercing means 200 of the surgical procedure kit for inserting a medicaltube according to the present invention the position where the medicaltube enters a skin tissue, and the medical tube 130 is inserted into thetissue by the insertion pathway formation means 100 inserted through theposition P1 and then is fixed to the tissue at the predeterminedposition P2 by a first barb 134 a which is a support.

FIGS. 10A to 10G illustrate a use order of each component of thesurgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube during the surgicalprocedure of inserting the medical tube into the biological tissue usingthe surgical procedure kit for inserting a medical tube according to thepresent invention.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10A, the predetermined position P1 of the bodyis pierced by using the piercing means 200. Next, as illustrated in FIG.10B, the operator makes the insertion pathway formation means 100 enterthe position P1 where the piercing means is extracted. In this case, theinsertion pathway formation means 100 is inserted into the biologicaltissue in the state in which the support member 110 penetrating throughthe medical tube 130 is assembled in the tube member 120. During thisprocess, the tube member 120 itself has flexibility, and thus theinsertion pathway formation means 100 does not easily enter the skintissue only with the tube member itself, but the support member 110having stiffness greater than that of the tube member is inserted intothe tube member 120 to serve as a frame of the tube member 120, suchthat the insertion pathway formation means 100 can easily enter up tothe predetermined position P2 within the skin tissue.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 10C, if the end of the insertion pathwayformation means 100 substantially reaches the position P2 of the skintissue, the operator pulls back and separates only the support member110 to extract the support member 110 in the state in which the tubemember 120 is inserted into the skin tissue while the medical tube 130is included in the tube member 120 of the insertion pathway formationmeans 100.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 10D, the push means 300 is prepared in thestate in which the tube member 120 having the medical tube 130 includedtherein is inserted into the body, and as illustrated in FIGS. 10E and10F, the operator pushes the medical tube 130 disposed within the tubemember 120 from behind using the push means 300.

In this case, if an outer diameter of the push portion of the push means300 is smaller than the inner diameter of the tube main body 132 of themedical tube 130, when the push means 300 pushes the medical tube 130,the push means 300 is inserted into the tube main body 132 of themedical tube 130, and thus the push means 300 does not push the medicaltube 130. To prevent such problem, the outer diameter of the pushportion of the push means 300 is formed to be greater than the innerdiameter of the tube main body 132 of the medical tube 130. Ifnecessary, the end of the push portion may also be provided with a pushplate for pushing the medical tube.

When the operator pushes the medical tube 130 in the tube member 120using the push means 300, the medical tube 130 is guided within the tubemember 120 to be expelled through the outlet 127 of the inclinedinsertion portion 128 of the end of the tube member 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 10F, when the medical tube 410 is expelledthrough the inclined insertion portion of the tube member 120, thediameter of the inclined insertion portion 128 is expanded to be bent sothat the medical tube 130 can exit easily. For example, as illustratedin FIG. 10F, the inclined insertion portion 128 is expanded with respectto the cutting line formed in the inclined insertion portion 128 andthus its diameter is increased and the tube main body 132 of the medicaltube 130 is expelled through the outlet having the increased diameter.In this case, the first barb 134 a formed on the outer surface of thetube main body 132 of the medical tube 130 protrudes to be inclinedtoward the opposite direction to the progress direction of the medicaltube, and therefore the interference does not occur when the medicaltube 130 is expelled from the conduit 124 of the tube member 120. Whenthe medical tube 130 is extracted from the outlet 127 of the conduit124, the first barb 134 a is folded downward and laid down to a positionsubstantially parallel to an axis direction of the medical tube 130, andafter being completely expelled out of the outlet 127, the first barb isagain recovered to an original inclined shape by its elasticity.

The operator additionally pushes the push means 300 to accurately adjustthe medical tube 130 to the fixed position within the skin tissue. Inthis process, as the first barb 134 a has an inclined shape to havesingle directivity, the medical tube can be securely anchored after themedical tube 130 is positioned in the tissue in the body.

After the medical tube 130 reaches at a predetermined position and isfixed, as illustrated in FIGS. 10E and 10G, both of the push means 300and the tube member 120 of the insertion pathway formation means arepulled back and extracted. The medical tube 130 is completely expelledout of the inclined insertion portion 128 through this process and thusis disposed within the skin tissue.

As illustrated in FIG. 10G, the first barb 134 a which is the support ofthe medical tube 130 is fixed at the predetermined point of the skintissue due to the structure in which it protrudes to be inclined towardthe opposite direction to the entry direction of the medical tube, andthe second barbs 134 b formed on the outer surface of the end portion ofthe opposite side (left direction in the drawing) of the end of themedical tube 410, on which the first barbs 134 a are formed serve topull and fix the skin tissue.

Next, the operator pushes the skin tissue in a predetermined directionin the state in which the medical tube is inserted and fixed, therebyadjusting the pulling direction of the skin tissue.

The medical tube and the support (for example, barb) formed in themedical tube which are used in one embodiment of the present inventionmay be made of a material which is not absorbed into a body or may bemade of even an absorbable material according to the purpose. Forexample, nylon, polypropylene (for example, MESH, etc.), polyvinylidenfluoride, polyester, stainless steel, gold, titanium, silicon, MedPor,Gore-Tex, mesh, polylactic acid, polydioxanone (PDO, PDS), a copolymerof lactic acid and glycolic acid, or the like may be used but thepresent invention is not limited thereto. When the material absorbableinto the body is used, there is an advantage in that after suture of theinside of the body is performed, the support needs not to be removed.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the medical tubeon which the barbs are formed may have, for example, a circular crosssection, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.Therefore, the medical tube may also have a triangular cross section, aquadrangular cross section, or the like, if necessary.

The barb may be arranged on the outer surface of the medical tubedepending on the required configuration and may be formed by anyappropriate method including ones well known in the technical field ofthe present invention. The methods may include a knife, a laser,injection molding by press forming, stamping, and cutting. The requirednumber of cutting at an acute angle is performed on the medical tube. Asize of the barb may be appropriately adjusted according to the purposewithin the scope of the technical field of the present invention. Forexample, a depth of the barb formed in the medical tube may be about 30to 100 micron and may be adjusted depending on the diameter of themedical tube. An interval between the barbs formed on the surface of themedical tube may be 100 micron to 1 mm or may be greater than that.

The medical tube used in the present invention may be made of severalmaterials of a polymer material, a metal material, a biologicalmaterial, or the like and may be made of, for example, a non-absorbablematerial, such as polypropylene, gold, stainless steel, titanium, nylon,polyvinyliden fluoride, polyester, and braided silk or an absorbablematerial such as polydioxanone (PDO, PDS), but the present invention isnot limited thereto.

Examples

As an alternative of the medical tube 130 according to the embodiment ofthe present invention as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, the medical tube130 which includes the tube main body 132 and supports 134 a′ and 134 a″having various forms exemplarily illustrated in FIGS. 11A to 11C may beused.

Referring to FIG. 11A, the medical tube 130 may have a straight shapeand the end in a direction in which the medical tube 130 enters the skintissue may be provided with at least one support 134 a′ having atruncated cone structure which has single directivity, the end of theopposite side of the medical tube 130 may be provided with a pluralityof barbs 134 b protruding to be inclined toward the end (right directionin the drawing) in the insertion direction of the medical tube, and aplurality of fixing portion 134 c having the truncated cone structurewhich has single directivity opposite to the support 134 a′ may bedisposed between the support 134 a′ and the barb 134 b.

As an optional embodiment, referring to FIG. 11B, the medical tube 410may have a straight form and may be provided with at least one support134 a′ having the truncated cone structure which has single directivityand the end of the opposite side of the medical tube 130 may be providedwith at least one fixing portion 134 b′ and 134 c having a truncatedcone structure which has directivity opposite to the support 134 a′,instead of the barb of FIG. 11A.

In this case, the medical tube requires a relatively high stiffness inthe direction in which the medical tube enters the skin tissue, andtherefore to satisfy this, a diameter D5 of the medical tube in adirection in which the medical tube enters the skin tissue may be formedto be greater than a diameter D6 of the medical tube at the end in theopposite direction thereto.

Optionally, as illustrated in FIG. 11C, the barb 134 a″ having singledirectivity may be disposed at both ends of the medical tube instead ofthe support having the truncated cone structure.

Referring to FIG. 11C, the barb formed at the end in the direction inwhich the medical tube 130 enters the skin tissue is provided with thefirst barb 134 a″ protruding to be inclined toward an opposite directionto the direction in which the medical tube enters the skin tissue, andthe end of the opposite side to the end of the medical tube providedwith the first barb 134 a″ is provided with the second barb 134 bprotruding to be inclined in the opposite direction to the first barb134 a″.

In this case, similar to FIG. 11B, the medical tube requires arelatively high stiffness in the direction in which the medical tubeenters the skin tissue, and therefore to satisfy this, a diameter D7 ofthe medical tube in a direction in which the medical tube enters theskin tissue may be formed to be greater than a diameter D8 of themedical tube at the end in the opposite direction thereto.

Although the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, it is only anexample. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and equivalent other exemplary embodiments are possiblefrom the present invention. In particular, although the apparatus forinserting a medical tube of the present invention is described for theapplication of, for example, a lifting surgical procedure (so calledface lift surgical procedure) for reducing creases of a facial skin, theprotective scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, orrather the apparatus for inserting a medical tube may also be applied toa surgical procedure performing a surgical procedure of lifting thesagging skin or tissue and reducing creases at various parts of a body,including an animal other than a person and may be applied to a medicalpurpose for forming a pulling force in the biological tissue as anotherpurpose, not for the removal of the creases of the skin. Accordingly,the actual technical protection scope of the present invention must bedetermined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

The present invention may be used for a medical surgical procedurefield.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A suture device comprising: a medical tube; barbsprojecting from the medical tube; and wherein the plurality of barbsprojecting from the tube body is inclined toward one end of the medical.15. A tissue lifting surgery kit comprising: a suture device comprisinga medical tube and barbs projecting from the medical tube and inclinedtoward one end of the medical tube; a piercing device comprising a tipconfigured for forming a piercing into skin of a subject; and a hollowpipe configured for inserting the piercing device and the suture deviceinto underneath skin.
 16. A method of performing a facial tissue liftingsurgery, the method comprising: providing an insertion unit comprising ahollow pipe and an medical tube, in which the medical tube is loadedinside the hollow pipe such that the insertion unit is elongated betweena proximal end and a distal end thereof, wherein the medical tubecomprises a tube body and a plurality of barbs projecting from acircumference of the tube body, forming a hole into facial skin of asubject's face; inserting the insertion unit through the hole and movingthe insertion unit underneath the facial skin toward a target area suchthat the distal end of the insertion unit reaches the target area, bywhich the insertion unit extends underneath the facial skin along adirection between the hole and the target area; subsequently, pushingthe medical tube toward the target area using a push rod such that themedical tube travels further toward the target area relative to thehollow pipe underneath the facial skin and further such that at leastpart of the plurality of barbs reaches the target area out of the hollowpipe; subsequently, pulling the hollow pipe out of underneath the facialskin while maintaining the medical tube underneath the facial skinextending along the direction between the hole and the target area,wherein the plurality of barbs projecting from the tube body is inclinedtoward the proximal end of the insertion unit such that the plurality ofbarbs is inclined toward the hole when they are underneath the facialskin, wherein the medical tube is integrated with tissues underneath thefacial skin with the plurality of barbs projecting from thecircumference of the tube body.